Investment Q&A

Q: With the lowering of interest rates, what bond funds to invest in? Bond ETF’s?

Q: Greetings,
I have put some cash into HSAV but feel there is not much return coming. As being very conservative is there a better place for better returns to pack some cash?

Thank you,
John

Q: Could you recommend 2-3 fixed income ideas for both in a registered and non-registered situation.

Q: Hi,
I'm looking for your sage opinion on how to deploy cash at this point in time. I have enough cash for 5 years of expenses and I'm in my 2nd year of retirement. The rest of my nest egg is in equities, real estate and bullion.

I have been thinking of just putting this cash into a five year GIC ladder and call it a day. But.... rates are already falling on GICs as we speak, likely in anticipation of further Bank of Canada and soon US Fed cuts.

Have you other options for me to consider for how to deploy this cash to 1) ensure a high probability of being able to meet expenses without selling equities in the event of a market downturn, while 2) ensuring a reasonably decent return from this cash over such a long period.

Specifically, does it make sense to accept around 4% as a guaranteed average rate or is there a solid case to make for dividend payers instead of GICs. Open to other and all suggestions.

Thanks for your invaluable service.
Michael

Q: Good afternoon, I am realigning my RRSP account using geographic and asset type recommendations. The asset allocator recommends that 15% of my portfolio be in fixed income. Can you please recommend a few fixed-income ETFs? Also, should fixed-income holdings be mostly domestic or include international as well? Lastly, would you consider CASH.CA part of the fixed-income component of a portfolio or simply a place to keep cash until it is directed into another asset? Thank you in advance.

Q: With a long term view, what proportion would you allocate to each of the above to make a balanced portfolio?

Thank you

Q: 2 questions:
In a taxable account what would you suggest to play the role of Bonds if any? I need to beef up my bonds allocation and need to keep cash and cash equivalent in my taxable account where I have new funds.

For a young retiree with a comfortable portfolio what percentage would you allocate to cash and bonds? Volatility is not a problem for me with a long term view.

Thank you
Yves

Q: Can you please recommend 3 bond ETFs that will provide in one year 10% yield including both dividends and capital appreciation?

Q: The fixed income portion of my portfolio is fairly low. Would now be a good time switch from equities into fixed income in bonds, or has the horse left the barn? What would be, in your opinion, some suggestions for fixed income?
Much appreciated.

Q: Hello,

I need to increase the fixed income component of my portfolio. XBB and CBO make up 12% of my portfolio. Please suggest a few more CDN fixed income ETF's I could invest in. I am retired so a more conservative approach is what I am looking for.

Thanks for all your help.

Q: I am going to sell most of my u.s.stock so will have u.s. funds. where should I invest it for safety I am 87

Q: I have 1.5 million to invest. I need income of $70000 per year before tax for the next 10 years. I hesitate to put it in to a single type of investment.. please suggest a mix I could use to get me close to this goal. A slight growth would be a bonus . Thanks

Q: TD launched a series of Target Maturity Bond ETFs that terminate in Nov of each given year (e.g. TBCF winds up in Nov 2026)
Normally, for Fixed Income, an investor could:
- own individual bonds with exact payment/maturity certainty but very laborious
- own traditional bond ETFs: very easy, but perpetually renewing maturities and mysterious trading prices---often downward, it seems
However these new ETFs seem to offer the best of both worlds.
MER is 0.20 vs XBB 0.10 which isn’t bad.
By TD’s offering chart (May 2), TBCF shows a Yield to Maturity (net of fees) of 4.87%.
Seems like a lot to like here for the individual investor, in Fixed Income.
As a Portfolio Analytics subscriber, the Asset Allocator is unhappy with my dearth of Fixed Income holdings!

Q: Hoping you could suggest an ETF portfolio for an RRSP account with a minimum 12 years until withdrawals are made. The account is starting from scratch.
Thanks

Q: Can you suggest 10 best (sleep at night) low risk, monthly/quarterly income, tax efficient, Canadian etfs. Monthly preferred but not essential. Held in non registered account.

Q: Greetings 5i
I have a couple of follow up questions to yesterday’s question regarding a US replacement for vbal. You suggested a combination of spy and a bond fund. What would be an appropriate bond etf for this strategy? I imagine you would be indifferent between spy and voo for stocks? Is there any way to calculate the tax hit in a non registered account. Currently I have non dividend paying stocks in this account to avoid withholding tax. But, i guess if you follow this strategy you have to take the tax bite as part of the package.
With appreciation

Q: This question or type of question was asked in the last week, but I can't find it. Sorry. My 2 kids each have about $100,000. I manage their money, but would prefer to just manage it through ETF's. Can you please suggest a portfolio of ETF's for reasonable growth (60-70% equities), but balanced with some bonds as well. If you want to cut and paste your answer to the question from a week ago, that would be great. Thanks a lot.

Q: Peter, I am a 75 year old active and avid stock picking DIY investor and have been pretty successful thanks very much to you and the staff at 5i Research. However, my wife has no interest and no knowledge to manage our portfolios if something were to happen to me. And with a nod to Warren Buffett I believe I would like to leave clear instructions that our stocks be sold off and the funds invested in a passive 80/20 equity/bond (or what split would you recommend?) all in one ETF that would provide for my wife for the rest of her life.
What ETF would you recommend for this? And is one truly enough?

Thanks. David

Q: Hi, I'm thinking of gradually reducing my individual stocks and moving into etfs for an all around set it and forget it roughly $3 million portfolio for someone retiring in the next few months. Can you give me your suggested etfs and percentages to hold to accomplish this balance? A chunk of these funds are not invested yet so I'd also like to know how you would suggest deploying these funds? Would you edge in gradually over a period of time or just get the money working? I'd really appreciate any advice you could give me in this format.
Thank you as always!

Q: My question is what to do with my legacy fixed-income holdings.

I've been holding the above ETFs after being advised by 5i's portfolio analysis services to increase fixed-income holdings. Holdings are in registered accounts at a 25% weight combined.

They have all lost capital value over the past 5 years, however with distributions, they have returned approximately zero or flat over the last 5 years, I view this as a loss due to the inflation over this time.

What would 5i suggest I do with these fixed-income holdings moving forward? Should I hold for ballast or sell and move funds into dividend growers like Utilities or Pipelines eg. FTS, ALA, GEI, TRP, etc.)? The bond investments have put a drag on my investment returns.

Please advise your thoughts and wisdom, Thank you.